%%%%%% Please remember that examples are not recent when adding or updating new entries.%%%%%% The creator of Webcomic/AwkwardZombie allows whole comic pages to be used provided the link at the bottom is left: http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=4[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/AwkwardZombie http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_comic146_5639.gif]]]][[caption-width-right:350:High-school Pokémon fans, [[VideoGame/PokemonGo rejoice!]]]]

->''"Look on the bright side, Eddy. My parents say fads go in a cycle. In another ten years, we'll be back in style!"''-->-- '''Double D''', ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''[[note]][[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddysBigPictureShow And that actually happened.]][[/note]]

This is when something which portrays itself as "cutting edge" becomes mainstream, but soon becomes [[ItsPopularNowItSucks overexposed]], [[DiscoDan behind the times]], [[DiscreditedMeme old hat]], or [[DeaderThanDisco just plain uncool]]. However, given enough time, it suddenly begins to make a comeback, usually accompanied by words like "vintage," "nostalgic," and "classic." It's gone through the ups and downs of the popularity polynomial.

How often the item cycles back and forth between "cool" and "not cool" depends on many factors. If something reached a peak when you and your friends were kids, then when you become tweens or teens, it is a reminder of a childish time -- and as [[Creator/CSLewis the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up]] kick in, you don't want to think about it. But when you reach your later teens or become adults, it is seen as harmless. And once ''your'' kids discover it, it may even become cool again (as long as they don't associate it with their uncool parents). Now apply that on a larger scale.

Given enough cycles, it becomes the equivalent of a CyclicTrope.

The name comes from the fact that we like {{a|ddedAlliterativeAppeal}}lliteration, and [[MostTropersAreYoungNerds some of us are math geeks]]. Here's also a [[TechnoBabble more detailed explanation]] about what a polynomial is and what it has to do with the ups and downs of popularity.

[[folder:Explanation]]A ''polynomial'' in x is a sum of non-negative integer powers of x which are each multiplied by a real number. You might know some simple polynomials: y=ax+b, the equation for a straight line where a is the slope and b is the y-intercept, is a polynomial (it can be written as: y=ax[[superscript:1]]+bx[[superscript:0]]). That's called a polynomial of degree 1, because the highest power of x that appears is 1. A polynomial of degree 2 (y=ax[[superscript:2]]+bx+c) is called a parabola, and if you plot its graph it looks like a dish (which could be wide or narrow, or turned upside down, depending on what a, b, and c are).

Of course, there are polynomials of a higher degree than that, like y=4x[[superscript:5]]+8x[[superscript:4]]+15x[[superscript:3]]+16x[[superscript:2]]+23x[[superscript:1]]+42, which is of degree 5. Higher degree polynomials can create all sorts of curves when you plot them. Apart from the line and the parabola, you can get a lot of shapes, such as a lot of hairpin curves or a roller-coaster shape that goes on for a while before diving up or diving down.

So, in a polynomial in x of a high-degree you can expect y to go up and down as x grows.[[note]]This doesn't always happen-- exactly ''how'' often it happens is a difficult question in probability, but for our purposes the answer is "often enough."[[/note]] The trope name is about looking at the popularity of something as a polynomial in time: as time progresses, it becomes less popular, then more popular, then less popular again, and so on and so forth. Generally speaking, the higher degree the polynomial, the more times you switch from "cool" to "stupid" and back. The points where the popularity rises, flatlines, and then begins to decline are known as the polynomial's JumpingTheShark moments, and when it does the opposite- reverses a decline and starts to climb- rigorous mathematical notation is that it is GrowingTheBeard. Some fringe lunacy groups insist on an alternative terminology having to do with derivative signs and whatnot, but they can be safely ignored.

So if you were wondering what a polynomial was, [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle now you know]].[[/folder]]

See also ColbertBump (a resurgence triggered by a specific factor), DeadArtistsAreBetter (when a person's death [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead rehabilitates his or her reputation]]), CyclicTrope (when this happens to tropes) and DiscreditedMeme. Compare with TwoDecadesBehind, CareerResurrection, NostalgiaFilter, GenreRelaunch and VindicatedByHistory. Contrast with DeaderThanDisco.----!!Examples:[[index]]* [[PopularityPolynomial/{{Music}} Music]]* [[PopularityPolynomial/{{Other}} Other]][[/index]][[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]* Anime in North America has had a roller coaster of popularity over the years, normally with a particular series leading the surge. In the mid '90s, anime surged big time thanks to particularly ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', and ''Anime/SailorMoon''. Around the early 2000s, the popularity began to lower but then in the mid 2000s another boom kick started thanks to ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' and ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. There was a crash afterwards, but in TheNewTens shows like ''Anime/KillLaKill'', ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'', and ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' caused yet another boom. Two particular anime that experienced this is ''Dragon Ball Z'' and ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Both acted as gateway series to the world of anime, ''Dragon Ball Z'' being the most popular shonen series and ''Evangelion'' once being regarded TrueArt. Around the early 2000s, HypeBacklash hit both series big time (''DBZ'' because of its filler and inaction sequences and ''Evangelion'' because of its confusing plotline) and it suddenly became wrong to openly admit to liking either series. Then later ''[[Anime/DragonBallKai Dragon Ball Z Kai]]'' and ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'', respectively, renewed interest in both franchises, but then interest died out again after ''Kai'' became [[OvershadowedByControversy overshadowed by a plagiarism controversy]] toward the end of its initial run, while the ''Rebuild'' movies got more confusing than the original TV show. ''Dragon Ball'', however, has since rebounded with a pair of movies (''[[Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods Battle of Gods]]'' and ''[[Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF Resurrection 'F']]'') and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''.* ''Anime/YuGiOhARCV'' managed to renew a lot of interest in the series after the previous two series (''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' and ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'') proved to be rather divisive among fans. This is thanks in part by having a surprisingly well thought out and in-depth plot, as well as having a surprisingly in-depth cast of characters where even the generic anime stereotypes manage to hold a surprisingly large fanbase. Also helps the characters are also GenreSavvy, with quite a few using competitive viable decks and carrying multiple copies of the same card. Indeed, many consider it the best anime since [[Anime/YuGiOh the original]], with a bold few even going as far to say as it manages to ''top'' it many ways!* ''Anime/MDGeist'' is a bizarre example of this phenomenon. Part of the initial North American anime boom, ''MD Geist'' was successful when it was brought to North America, largely due to the efforts of Creator/CentralParkMedia president John O'Donnel, who loved and [[AdoredByTheNetwork promoted it to a ridiculous level]]. In part [[HypeBacklash due]] to this overexposure, it was hated by vocal {{Otaku}}s and acquired a reputation as the "worst anime ever" after its commercial success faded. This changed in the late 2000s when the OVA was shown on [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel's]] Ani Monday block, due to a combination of a growing backlash against certain trends such as {{Moe}} and [[CriticalBacklash being nowhere near as bad as advertised]]. While few people would argue ''MD Geist'' is good art, it is now largely seen as [[SoBadItsGood enjoyable]] rather than being [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible garbage]], and [[http://forgottenjunk.blogspot.com/2011/07/md-geist-most-detailed-article.html several]] [[http://www.colonydrop.com/index.php/2011/07/15/mdgeist?blog=1 articles]] have been [[http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/Anime/News1/The_Truth_About_MD_Geist_1154.aspx written]] arguing against its reputation as the "worst anime".* If you asked any fan of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' from the late '90s to the mid 2000s who the most popular character of the anime was, they would answer [[ShyBlueHairedGirl Rei Ayanami]], who was popular for her [[MysteriousWaif calm and otherworldly personality]], as well as her [[StoicWoobie sympathetic backstory]]. In the late 2000s onward, however, the most popular character seems to be [[FieryRedhead Asuka Langley Soryu]], who is liked for her [[{{Tsundere}} outgoing and more human personality]], as well as her [[JerkassWoobie sympathetic backstory]].[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* {{Superhero}} comics have been on this path for years. They were one of the few comic book genres that survived UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode, although they had to censor themselves, and were the more successful comics throughout the {{UsefulNotes/The Silver Age|Of Comic Books}} and {{UsefulNotes/The Bronze Age|Of Comic Books}}. During the later parts of the '80s, ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was a successful deconstruction of the superhero genre, while ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' and ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' were grittier takes on ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''. Seeing this, many comics went DarkerAndEdgier, leading to the UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. Unfortunately, most of the dark material, while popular at first, got old. UsefulNotes/TheGreatComicsCrashOf1996, caused by a number of factors (such as the bursting of the speculator bubble, the failure of ''ComicBook/DeathMate'', and the overuse of collectors editions/crisis crossovers), made many companies such as Creator/ValiantComics die, and even Creator/{{Marvel}} filed for bankruptcy. By 2001, comic book sales were only 67 million, their lower point in years. Marvel and DC focused on their movies, while Creator/DarkHorseComics and Creator/ImageComics focused on licensed and genre material. However, with the popularity of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and similar films, as well as lots of successful TV adaptations and new, diverse titles like ''[[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]]'' and ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl|2011}}'', superhero comic books have had a significant rebound. * In the '90s and '00s, Creator/ArchieComics seemed poised to finish its long slide from MainstreamObscurity into plain obsolescence. Its squeaky-clean characters and its [[RetroUniverse perpetual 1950s setting]] had grown increasingly out of touch with younger readers, its efforts to [[WereStillRelevantDammit keep up with the times]] had done little more than [[SnarkBait render it a laughingstock]] and the butt of jokes about being TwoDecadesBehind, and it seemed as though most of its fandom was of the ironic sort, with stories like ''ComicBook/ArchieMeetsThePunisher'' outright [[AdamWesting playing the company's image for laughs]]. ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' was a hit on television and kept the characters in the public eye, but it was largely divorced from the comics, and while the company also published [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog a popular line]] of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' comics, these weren't a part of the company's core product line.\\\Something funny happened in the 2010s, however: for the first time in decades, Archie became genuinely hip. It started in 2010 when the company relaunched their adventure series ''Life with Archie'' as a more mature take on the characters, with storylines dealing with marriage, financial problems, homosexuality, and gun violence. This was followed in 2013 by ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'', a horror story featuring the characters battling a ZombieApocalypse; its success and critical acclaim saw its writer, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, promoted to chief creative officer the following year[[note]]Ironically -- and as if to drive home just how much the company had changed -- Aguirre-Sacasa had previously been [[ScrewedByTheLawyers hit with a cease-and-desist letter]] by the company in 2003 for writing a gay-themed Archie stage play.[[/note]], along with a [[ComicBook/ArchieComics2015 modernized reboot]] of their flagship series by Creator/MarkWaid and a GothicHorror [[ComicBook/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina rendition]] of ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch. By 2017, Archie Comics' comeback culminated with the TV show ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' on Creator/TheCW.* ComicBook/LukeCage, as discussed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRtW10X0Vr4 this video]] by Creator/BobChipman. Created in TheSeventies to both diversify the Creator/MarvelComics lineup and cash in on the {{blaxploitation}} boom, from TheEighties into the '00s he was seen by many comics fans, white and black alike, as a [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece dated relic]] and a symbol of everything wrong with Marvel's [[WereStillRelevantDammit clueless attempts at social commentary]] during that time. Attempts to revive the character mostly went nowhere outside of guest appearances in ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'', where he was largely shorn of his '70s trappings. His return to popularity and respectability came alongside the broader reappraisal of the blaxploitation genre in the '00s and '10s, with [[Series/LukeCage a popular Netflix TV series]] being the turning point after years of increasingly popular appearances in the comics. Now, he's one of Marvel's headliners, updated for the 21st century but still rooted in his '70s inspirations.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]* Disney has gone through ups and downs. During UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, Disney's films were successes. However, after the death of Creator/WaltDisney, the confused company released a string of weak, underperforming films in TheSeventies. By TheEighties, Disney was better known as a theme park operator than a filmmaker. However, in 1989, ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'', an animated film deliberately reminiscent of the Golden Age films of the 1940-50s, became an unexpected critical and commercial success and kicked off the [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation Disney Renaissance]] that lasted throughout the entire [[TheNineties Nineties]]. By the TurnOfTheMillennium though, audiences, tiring of the increasingly [[AwardBaitSong clichéd]] [[TalkingAnimal formula]] [[RebelliousPrincess prevalent]] in these films, drifted towards the then-new AllCGICartoon popularized by Creator/{{Pixar}} and Creator/DreamWorksAnimation. Disney responded by shutting down their traditional animation studio and releasing a string of their own CGI animated films, few of which made much of an impact; even the traditionally-animated throwback ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' and the well-received ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' were only moderately successful. It wasn't until the double-whammy of 2012's ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' followed by 2013's ultra-successful ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' that Disney truly got back on top again.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* The 1967 film ''Film/ToSirWithLove'' laid this bare for the audience in a scene where Mark Thackeray (Creator/SidneyPoitier) informs his disbelieving students about many things that are OlderThanTheyThink: their clothing is from the 1920s, their hairstyles from the 16th century, and so on. A trip to a museum later in the film re-{{lampshade|Hanging}}s it when one of the students is shown with his head next to that of a Renaissance statue -- and they both have the same haircut.* Musicals have been getting in and out of this since its beginnings: the UsefulNotes/RiseOfTheTalkies brought a glut of musical films in 1929-30, only for TheGreatDepression to shift tastes to the point many films had to be modified to eliminate the songs and promoted as such. But halfway through the decade Busby Berkeley's new approach to choreography and the popularity of the Astaire-Rogers team led to a wave of musicals that intensified during the war years, with MGM becoming associated with the genre, which then faltered through the 1950s with the rise of television, being relegated to the B-movie domain by the time rock-and-roll came along.\\\\However, in TheSixties, ''Mary Poppins'' and ''The Sound of Music'', as well the British musical films of the Beatles era, led Hollywood to reconsider musicals, but these attempts were [[GenreKiller killed]] by a parade of flops over 1967-69 (''Camelot'', ''Film/DoctorDolittle'', ''Film/PaintYourWagon'', ''Finian's Rainbow'', ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', and finally ''Theatre/HelloDolly'') that rendered musicals DeaderThanDisco, with ''Film/{{Cabaret}}'' and ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'' being the only exceptions. While the genre briefly resurfaced late in TheSeventies via a few successful efforts, most notably ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' and ''Film/{{Grease}}'', it gave up the ghost early in TheEighties after the disco backlash set on, with ''Film/{{Xanadu}}'' and ''Cant Stop the Music'' [[GenreKiller killing off the genre for two decades]].\\\\2001's ''Film/MoulinRouge'' was the first live-action musical in years to attract positive attention, but a comeback truly kicked off the following year with the Oscar-winning film of ''Film/{{Chicago}}'', and has continued into the present with the likes of ''Theatre/{{Dreamgirls}}'', ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'', ''Theatre/MammaMia'' and ''Theatre/LesMiserables''. Disney even managed to make a highly successful franchise out of ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'', to the point where the third film was upgraded to a theatrical release, its' success sparking franchises like ''Film/CampRock'' and ''Film/TeenBeachMovie''. ''Series/{{Glee}}'' helped to carry the musical revival torch into TheNewTens, alongside films like ''Film/PitchPerfect'', ''Joyful Noise'' and shows like ''Series/{{Smash}}'' (though neither of the latter two were particularly successful). However, 2016's ''La La Land'' stumped almost everyone, becoming a critical and financial hit.* Putting original songs in movies has become this. Original songs in movies used to be the norm, with many being acclaimed as classics to this day, and the Best Original Song category was thriving with nominations. However, by the late 1990s a backlash spread against this (primarily because of Disney's abuse of this trope), and fewer and fewer films were using theme songs in favor of filling up the soundtrack with as many hot artists as they could, with the added advantage they were less expensive. By the early 2000s, original songs had fallen off the radar. The persistence of the MovieBonusSong and AwardBaitSong tropes were the only things keeping them alive, and the effects showed at the Academy Awards Best Original Song category -- the 2011 winner [[Film/TheMuppets "Man or Muppet"]] beat out ''one'' other nominee (''Rio''), which was most likely there so that there wouldn't be just the single nominee. However, in TheNewTens, with the success of songs such as "Skyfall" from ''Skyfall'', "Everything is Awesome" from ''The Lego Movie'' and "Let It Go" from ''Frozen'' along with their performances on stage, original songs have seen a significant revival.* Hardly any [[SwordAndSandal ancient history films]] between ''Film/{{Cleopatra}}'' and ''Film/{{Gladiator}}''. Then it became a trend again, only to fall out of favor ''again'' due to the failures of later ones like ''Film/{{Alexander}}''. Then ''Film/ThreeHundred'' brought them back into vogue, this time tending to have more stylized aesthetics.* This has happened more than once to the {{horror}} genre:** The [[Franchise/UniversalHorror classic Universal monster movies]] were certainly big hits in the '30s and early '40s, but after the release of ''Film/TheWolfMan1941'', they fell into a DorkAge that would last the rest of TheForties and well into TheFifties, with only a few bright spots (''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'', ''Film/ItCameFromOuterSpace'') as Creator/{{Universal}} struggled to adapt to the postwar boom of sci-fi horror. Then, in 1957, Universal released a large number of its classic horror films in a television package called ''Shock! Theater''. ''Shock!'' introduced the films to a new audience that could view them from the comfort of their homes, with the lovably campy assistance of various local {{Horror Host}}s, kicking off a "Monster Boom" craze that lasted well into TheSeventies and saw the monsters reach the height of their popularity and cultural presence. [[Film/HammerHorror Hammer Film Productions]] came along at almost the same time to produce lurid color remakes of the classic films, ensuring the monsters' legacies would live on and restoring glamour to the horror genre, which by that point had devolved into BMovie hell. To this day, even as new monsters, villains, and subgenres have risen to prominence, the Universal monsters are regarded as icons of the horror genre, with most takes on the basic monsters ([[ClassicalMovieVampire vampires]] and [[WolfMan werewolves]] especially) still referring back to films made in the '30s and '40s, even if only to [[OurMonstersAreDifferent show themselves to be different]] from the 'Hollywood' version.** In the first half of TheNineties, the horror genre (and the {{slasher|Movie}} genre in particular) was seen as stale, {{cliche|Storm}}, and behind the times, filled with bad writing, cheap scares, and [[UnfortunateImplications not-so-subtle]] [[MonsterMisogyny misogyny]]. New horror movies were flopping at the box office left and right (even in the normally-reliable month of October), and the slasher icons of TheEighties were viewed as walking punchlines. Then came ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'', which {{deconstruct|ion}}ed, [[DeconstructiveParody parodied]], and {{lampshade|Hanging}}d all the genre's conventions, put them all back together, and single-handedly restored the genre to commercial viability. While the teen slasher boom it spawned turned out to be short-lived (due to a combination of SturgeonsLaw and a TooSoon reaction after the UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} massacre), horror cinema in general hasn't looked back.** The effects of ''Scream'' revitalizing the horror genre are visible in how the reputation of ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' has evolved over the years. While it's always had, at the very least, a cult fandom, in the late '80s and early '90s its status as the TropeCodifier for the SlasherMovie was more of a liability than anything, and many critics blamed it for drowning the horror genre in a wave of gore-soaked hack-n-slashes (despite the fact that ''Halloween'' itself was [[GoryDiscretionShot comparatively bloodless]]). With the reappraisal of slashers in general starting in the late '90s, its reputation has recovered, and most critics once more recognize it as a classic.* ZombieApocalypse movies, and zombies in general, were practically forgotten throughout the '90s. It wasn't until the early 2000s that ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'', the ''[[Film/DawnOfTheDead2004 Dawn of the Dead]]'' remake, and ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' kickstarted the genre again.* ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'' became the highest-grossing movie ever and won 11 Oscars. Then the overexposure (particularly of the Music/CelineDion theme), HypeBacklash, annoying Creator/{{Leonardo DiCaprio}} fangirls, and the overall schmaltzy and overblown tone of the movie damaged both its reputation and popularity. By the time the movie turned 15 and got a [=3D=] re-release in theaters, all was forgiven and forgotten.* Big-budget, theatrical superhero movies have risen and fallen several times. The 1940s and '50s saw ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'', and ''Franchise/TheGreenHornet'' movie serials ride the original comic book boom onto the big screen, but that trend crashed roughly alongside the Comics Code Authority bringing about the end of the Golden Age of superhero comics, and superhero movies were relegated to low-budget made-for-TV fare for twenty years (with the odd exception like 1966's Adam West TV spinoff ''Film/BatmanTheMovie''). The success of Richard Donner's ''Film/{{Superman}}'' in 1978 revived interest, as did 1989's ''Film/{{Batman}}'', but each was followed by only one well-received sequel, two poorly-received ones, and a decade each of [[FollowTheLeader B-grade imitators]] like ''Film/{{Supergirl}}'', ''Film/HowardTheDuck'', and ''Film/TheMeteorMan'' which were generally poorly received by critics and audiences. In 1998, ''Film/{{Blade}}'' was released and ended up being a SleeperHit. Then in the early [[TheAughts 2000s]], the genre began a slow-building but powerful and long-lasting resurgence with the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' and ''[[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Spider-Man]]'' film franchises. In TheNewTens, the release calendar has been dominated by big budget superhero adaptations such as Christopher Nolan's ''The [[Film/BatmanBegins Dark]] [[Film/TheDarkKnight Knight]] [[Film/TheDarkKnightRises Trilogy]]'', [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel's sprawling Cinematic Universe]] and the nascent DC Film Universe, and there appears to be no end in sight.* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Film/TwentyOneJumpStreet''. While returning to his old high school, one of the leads notices an attractive young woman reading a comic book. He points out that when he was a teenager, only geeks read comics, and were usually mocked for doing so.* Hard-R comedies first took off in the late 1970s, with films like ''Film/AnimalHouse'' and ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'' pushing major boundaries in terms of what constituted "good taste"[[note]]Although, technically, 1972's ''Film/PinkFlamingos'' still holds the record for "raunchiest movie ever made", and unlike most European comedies of the era, these had a plot and could be shown at a regular movie house.[[/note]] and becoming hit films in the process. Unfortunately, a saturation of films in the early '80s, many of which relied solely on VulgarHumor rather than witty writing, dissolved the genre just before ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' and ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' led family-friendly humor to dominate comedy. During that time, the decidedly tamer comedy of "teen films" like ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' in the late '80s and some of the works of actors like [[Creator/PaulReubens Paul "Pee-Wee" Reubens]], Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/RobinWilliams, and Creator/AdamSandler became the norm for more mature audiences. However, ''Film/{{Clerks}}'' sardonic Gen X-fueled approach to adult humor made it a sleeper hit and the hard-R comedy came back in 1998 when ''Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary'' became a surprise critical and commercial hit. The genre thrived for the next three or four years with such box office bonanzas as ''Film/AmericanPie'' and ''Film/ScaryMovie''. While the new wave's over-emphasis on high school- and college-centered comedy (what with the audience for such movies moving on to adulthood) and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' brand of humor influencing family films like ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' threatened to dissolve the genre yet again, the films of Creator/JuddApatow, starting with the 2005 hit ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'', proved that such films could be just as popular with adults as with teenagers, even pre-teens. And while the "second golden age of raunchy comedies" died down during the mid-2010s in favor of more family fare, some movies have successfully pushed the envelope like ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'', ''Film/MikeAndDaveNeedWeddingDates'' and ''Film/BadMoms''.* Vampire movies are in a full swinging pendulum of this. They will gain popularity for awhile, then play themselves out, only for the process to repeat.* After his [[Film/GodzillaFinalWars last film]] in 2004, ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' received very little public or internet attention. But once footage and trailers for [[Film/{{Godzilla2014}} the 2014 reboot]] started being released in December of 2013, Godzilla started trending very often on social network sites, leading to revived interest in the franchise specifically (hence why many of the films were brought back into circulation after [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes years with no home video releases]]) and the {{Kaiju}} genre in general (hence the sustained interest in ''Film/PacificRim'' and the ContinuityReboot for ''Franchise/{{Gamera}}'').* Franchise/TheMuppets: It may not be obvious to today's viewers, but the original film ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' had any number of cameos from people who were, at the time, ''huge'' stars, and ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' guest stars were frequently leading lights either as actors or singers (or both) as well. They have made a huge comeback, now that the media industry is full of influential producers and talents who grew up on their show and still love them. There's no shortage of celebrities who want to perform with them, as [[Film/TheMuppets their 2011 film]] demonstrates. * The 1978 film ''Film/TheDeerHunter'' won five UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s, including Best Picture and Best Director for Creator/MichaelCimino, and was acclaimed as one of the first great movies about UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and the impact it had on the people who fought in it. Then Cimino went and [[CreatorKiller sank an entire studio (as well as his career)]] with his follow-up, the critically ravaged BoxOfficeBomb ''Film/HeavensGate''. The backlash against Cimino in the wake of ''Heaven's Gate'' was so severe that it stained the reputation of ''The Deer Hunter'' for quite some time. There was a period of time in the early-mid '80s when it was uncool in film critic circles to like that film, as many critics tried to explain how they'd been "suckered in" by Cimino. The [[http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940CE4D61638F93AA25752C1A966948260 more charitable]] said that he'd made a DealWithTheDevil for its success, while others suggested that it was never any good in the first place and was popular more for its subject matter than anything.\\\As the debacle of ''Heaven's Gate'' fell further into the past, however, the film eventually regained its reputation as one of the great Vietnam War movies. While there remains a minority of critics ([[https://web.archive.org/web/20110721174514/http://www.film4.com/features/article/oh-deer-oh-deer-oh-deer most notably]] Creator/MarkKermode) who still hate the film, many others have since reevaluated their negative positions on it, and it was added to the Library of Congress in 1996 and made AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list in both [[AFIS100Years100Movies 1998]] and [[AFIS100Years100Movies10THAnniversaryEdition 2007]] (actually climbing 26 spots on the latter list). Helping its reputation further is the fact that ''Heaven's Gate'' has itself [[VindicatedByHistory come in for reappraisal]] over the years, especially after the [[ReCut director's cut]] premiered in 2012 at the Venice Film Festival, with critics who only knew the film from its 1981 theatrical cut surprised at how good it was and arguing that its re-edit after poor press screenings had obscured a genuinely great film.* Submarine films were popular for decades following WWII. Each decade had at least one notable submarine film, TheFifties had ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'',''TheEnemyBelow'' and ''RunSilentRunDeep'', TheSixties had ''FantasticVoyage'', ''Submarine X1'', and ''Ice Station Zebra''. TheSeventies had few notable underwater films although JamesBond would get his turn in ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Although ''DasBoot'' started off TheEighties, most of the submarine films of that decade were actually underwater science fiction romps such as ''TheAbyss''. TheNineties gave us ''TheHuntForRedOctober'' and ''CrimsonTide''. After this, submarine adventures seemed to vanish. The claustrophobic nature of underwater adventures makes such films a hard sell since there are few, if any, changes of scenery. Most conflict is through dialogue and character drama. Another reason may be chiefly due to the reality that submarine settings are traditionally all male. A significant number of these past submarine films had no female cast members in speaking roles or even onscreen. This makes submarine films difficult to market to a general audience in today's film market that mandates more inclusion and equal gender representation.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* ''Literature/TheAeneid'' versus its predecessors, ''Literature/TheIliad'' and ''Literature/TheOdyssey''. For many years, ''The Aeneid'' was considered the true accounting of the war, and practically required reading for any aspiring creative worker. This is for several reasons, chief among them being that Vergil's work deals primarily with the history of Rome, and most Renaissance thinkers were Italian. It was also written in Latin, which was much more widely-understood than Homer's Greek. As a result, many writers ended up inheriting Vergil's interpretations, [[RonTheDeathEater which usually depicted the Greeks in a poor light.]] However, these days, it's reversed; most people have read or at least know the plot of Homer's works, while Vergil's are mostly read by Latin students. This may be due to the rising popularity of Greek mythology and culture, the proliferation of translated versions of Homer eliminating the language barrier, or the greater mass-appeal of a massive war and a decades-long adventure as opposed to Vergil's more introverted work. Audiences today read ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' and wonder what poor Odysseus is doing at the Eighth Circle of Hell.* The Literature/SherlockHolmes books have been cycling in and out of popularity and the public consciousness ever since Creator/ArthurConanDoyle first came up with them. While there was not really a time when ''nobody'' admitted to liking them, there were times when few people could take them seriously and parodies (affectionate or not) dominated the discussion of Holmes as a character. The latest wave of Sherlock Holmes craziness is at least in part attributable to ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' and ''Series/{{Elementary}}'', both of which "update" Sherlock Holmes by setting it in the present day instead of some stuffy Victorian London many people cannot take seriously any more. Interestingly setting Sherlock in the (then) present is actually OlderThanTheyThink and has been done before. * SpaceOpera, once the dominant sub-genre of Science Fiction, has declined considerably since TheEighties. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar also ended the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States, leading to a period of stagnation. Secondly, around the same time an unexpected explosion in computers and bio-technology occurred. These two factors caused futurists and SciFi writers to stop looking at Space for inspiration, and look instead to genetic engineering, cloning, cybernetics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, hence the dominance of CyberPunk and its derivatives. It's only in recent years, with the over exposure of cyberpunk, nostalgic [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructionist]] works of SpaceOpera (like for example, ''Franchise/MassEffect''), and renewed interest in space coming from the discovery of Extra-solar planets that the Genre has begun to recover. Cyberpunk and its derivatives remain on top however. ** For much of TheEighties, the {{cyberpunk}} literary genre and movement was the new wave in both ScienceFiction and science fact, acting as a fertile seed on a ground tormented by efforts to adapt to a changing world where the computer was king and [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan was the new force on the block]]. However, books like ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'' failed to anticipate how a) the internet, cell phones, personal computers and handheld IT devices would become a mundane reality in the life of the average white-collar Joe Sixpack, and b) that the Japanese economic powerhouse [[Analysis/JapanTakesOverTheWorld would trip over itself in the early '90s]]. Once "the future" became the present, cyberpunk went from being high-tech to being filled with {{zeerust}}, painting a portrait of the future that had [[TechnologyMarchesOn stopped being relevant after about 1993]] -- the main reason why PostCyberpunk came to replace it. Not to mention that the virtual reality craze of the late '80s and early '90s simply shelved itself (for now) after failing to provide a holodeck-like experience.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]* For 25 years or so after it first aired, ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' was regarded as being a pretty solid show considering the time period when it was produced. Then during the [=2000s=] following the launch of the reimagined series, people tended to dismiss it as being just silly, campy fluff that wasted the potential of its concept. In the years since the finale of the reimagined series however, people have started to warm up to the original again, for at least being fun to watch and not having a storyline which collapsed in on itself (it helps that it's much easier to ignore ''Galactica 1980'' than it is to ignore the latter few reimagined seasons).* ''Series/DoctorWho'':** Although easy to forget now that it's a massive media juggernaut seemingly beloved by all, the show was considered a joke in the years between the mid '80s and 2005. It had been a very popular show at its height in the '70s, but during its '80s DorkAge and after its cancellation in 1989 it was, at best, a CultClassic, and at worst, something for people to sneer at and assert that, no, ''they'' never watched if they wanted to maintain a shred of credibility. Then Creator/RussellTDavies and Creator/ChristopherEccleston came along, and suddenly everything changed. The show not only became a huge success in Britain and returned to omnipresence in pop culture, but for the first time it managed to cross UsefulNotes/ThePond and establish a substantial international fanbase, with ''Doctor Who'' merchandise sold in mainstream American music/video stores.** Case in point: [[http://www.rotten.com/library/culture/doctor-who/ this article]] from the Rotten Library, written in 2005 just as ''Doctor Who'' was returning to television, exemplifies the dismissive attitudes (in this case, from an American perspective) that many people had towards the show at the time, ending with a joke about looking for "New ''Who''" on struggling Creator/{{PBS}} stations in between [[{{Telethon}} pledge drives]]. It would be [[HilariousInHindsight unimaginable]] for that same article to be written today.* {{Game show}}s in general tend to go through cycles. They went through their first boom in TheFifties, and fell hard after it was revealed that several of them (most infamously ''Series/TwentyOne'') were [[ExecutiveMeddling rigged]] in order to create tension for viewers. Except for the PanelGame variants like ''Series/IveGotASecret'' and low-stakes parlor games like ''Series/{{Password}}'', and a little thing called ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' that started in 1964, American audiences wouldn't fully trust game shows again until TheSeventies, when shows like ''Series/FamilyFeud'', ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'', ''Series/TheJokersWild'', ''The $10,000 Series/{{Pyramid}}'', and ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' became popular on network TV. The network games almost began to die down in [[TheEighties the '80s]] when the current syndicated version of ''Wheel'' debuted, followed a year later by a syndie revival of ''Jeopardy!'', but the market did get quite saturated around the late part of the decade: in 1989 and 1990 over a dozen new shows premiered (including revivals and network primetime versions, even ''Monopoly'' had a show), except that the early 90s depression caused a backlash against the genre, which quickly went through the wayside: Except for the juggernaut ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'', there wasn't a single network daytime game show between the end of ''Series/CaesarsChallenge'' in 1993 and the ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'' revival that began in 2009. Meanwhile, cable became a haven for game shows for a while, but most of them were cheap, short-lived fluff outside a few {{Cult Classic}}s like ''Series/SupermarketSweep'', ''Series/{{Double Dare|1986}}'', etc. The cable boom also made way for Creator/{{GSN}}, which offered reruns of older shows.\\\\The genre returned in a big way in the late '90s/early 2000s with ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' and ''Series/TheWeakestLink'', as well as shows like ''Series/{{Greed}}'' and the {{revival}} of ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares''. This boom also caused a deluge of [[WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire their assorted clones]]. In the early 2000s, ''Millionaire'' and ''Link'' pulled in tens of millions of viewers and were watercooler discussion fodder, and their hosts (Regis Philbin and [[TheMeanBrit Anne Robinson]], respectively) were household names. On top of that, their flashiness and huge prize budgets mostly spelled the end of low-budget cable game shows. Then their networks [[AdoredByTheNetwork began marketing them to death]] (Creator/{{ABC}} aired ''Millionaire'' almost every night of the week), and reality shows like ''Series/{{Survivor}}'', ''Series/AmericanIdol'' and ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' started taking off and providing what were then innovative alternatives to the traditional quiz show model. Almost overnight, the shows were only surviving in syndication -- and even that wasn't enough to keep ''Link'' alive. To this day, their catch phrases ("Is that your final answer?" for ''Millionaire''; "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" for ''Link'') are considered annoying as all hell. Game shows generally started to die off again, with one of the only success stories in the mid-2000s being ''Series/{{Lingo}}'' (2002-2007) on GSN. ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' sparked another brief revival in 2008, but its incredibly flimsy premise, ever-increasing gimmickry, and WolverinePublicity helped do it in. Meanwhile, through all the cycles the genre has gone through, the aforementioned syndie versions of ''Wheel'' and ''Jeopardy!'', and ''Price'' over on CBS, have remained consistently strong.** In the UK, the genre seemingly died out at the end of the Millionaire Years (thanks to that show and others like The Weakest Link becoming a bit of a joke), but has recovered in later years with shows like ''Pointless'', ''Series/TheChase'' and ''Eggheads'' getting good ratings and being nominated for TV awards.* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' is quickly becoming a good example of this. It was a huge phenomenon in the early 90s, but it began to slowly dwindle until about 2002, when it was bought by Disney, when it got worse. It had a short burst of success then, but Disney was apathetic to the show at even the best of times, and it essentially culminated in its cancellation in 2009 after ''Series/PowerRangersRPM''. However, soon after, the show was bought back by Saban, [[ChannelHop hopped]] over to Nickelodeon, and the franchise seems to be back on an upswing.* In-universe example from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': Marshall and Ted take a long drive with just one song to listen to, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". In alternating hours, they either hate it or love it (though unlike in a standard example, the moments of high "popularity" don't follow the thing's absence, but rather that it has managed to sink in).* The long-form MiniSeries in the U.S. In TheSeventies and TheEighties, this was seen as the premier format for high-quality television, with shows like ''Series/{{Roots}}'', ''Series/JesusOfNazareth'', ''{{Series/V 1983}}'', and ''Rich Man Poor Man'' allowing the networks and their writers to stretch their wings and bring Hollywood-level production values and big-name stars to the small screen. The then-Big Three networks would devote large chunks of their annual budget and UsefulNotes/{{sweeps}} time to air miniseries that could take up a whole week (or even more) of programming to keep audiences glued to the TV. During TheNineties, however, the quality of miniseries fell into the gutter as networks exploited the format as a UsefulNotes/{{sweeps}}-week RatingsStunt first and a method of storytelling second. The length of most miniseries also decreased, shrinking to just two parts and 4-5 hours, as networks grew more cost-conscious. By the TurnOfTheMillennium, a glut of crappy miniseries had virtually discredited the format.\\\\However, the miniseries found new life on cable television in the late '00s, where many smaller networks saw it as a cost-effective alternative to producing long-running series. Creator/{{FX}}'s ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' and Creator/{{HBO}}'s ''Series/TrueDetective'' have been using miniseries formats in all but name. Creator/TheHistoryChannel aired ''Series/{{Hatfields and McCoys}}'', which became a huge success. History followed that up with ''Series/TheBible'' and ''Vikings'', with both having high ratings starting out, but in the case of the former, outside of a very specific niche audience of conservative Christians, after the show had aired, audience opinion of the series dropped (critics never liked it), and in the case of the latter, ratings fell during season 2. Nevertheless, ''The Bible'' was a bestseller on home video, ultimately becoming the most successful miniseries ever produced, and the format has now been seen in a more favorable light. Since then, there has been a glut of miniseries that have been produced or are currently in development, even among the broadcast networks that had abandoned the format years earlier. Networks have used the format to test potential long-form projects (''Series/{{Fargo}}'', ''Series/UnderTheDome''), or they have been using them to revive long-running shows (''Series/TwentyFour'', ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', the original ''Series/LawAndOrder''). There are stand-alone projects being produced as well, a few of them being made to cash in on ''The Bible'' (NBC's ''AD'' and CBS' ''The Dovekeepers'', both of which share the [[Creator/MarkBurnett same]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_Downey producers]] from ''The Bible'').** As [[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/1933242/the_rise_and_fall_of_the_miniseries/ this article]] on Website/RottenTomatoes explains, many of the trends of modern television -- {{All Star Cast}}s in television productions, complete stories told in a finite number of episodes, even binge-watching -- began with the miniseries of the '70s and '80s. As such, the much-ballyhooed "GoldenAge of Television" of the 2010s can simply be viewed as the miniseries' return to prominence and takeover of the TV landscape, even if it's no longer referred to as such anymore.* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has varied in both popularity and quality, constantly going from being a CultClassic to being a mainstream phenomenon. ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' was moderately popular during its original 1966-69 run, but was cancelled after a low budget third season. The series was later revived as a 22 [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries episode animated series]]. While the first [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture film]] received mixed reviews, it was enough to get another sequel, ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', which was wildly considered the best film of the franchise and helped create a film series, albeit [[StarTrekMovieCurse one of varying quality]]. Later, another series, ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was released, and became an iconic show, lasting 176 episodes and seven seasons. The popularity ended up spawning two shows: ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. While both were popular, they never achieved the status of ''The Next Generation''. The franchise hit a low point in the early 2000s, with the box office failure and poor reception of ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' and the low ratings, lukewarm reception, and cancellation of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. However, ''Film/StarTrek'', a reboot of the franchise was a success both critically and commercially, and ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' continued the streak, even though it resulted in a BrokenBase. A new TV series is scheduled for 2017.* The televised live musical was inescapable in the '40s and '50s, but died out by 1960, with the last one being a remake of ''Theatre/PeterPan''. In 2013, NBC decided to put on the first televised live musical in 53 years, in the form of a remake of ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' starring Music/CarrieUnderwood. While it wasn't well received, ratings went through the roof and NBC decided that they would put out such a show annually. ''Peter Pan Live'', their next musical, was met with similar audience response, but 2015's ''Theatre/TheWiz Live'' became a critical darling just in time for another network to try out the live musical - Fox with ''Film/{{Grease}} Live'' in January 2016 and ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShowLetsDoTheTimeWarpAgain'' in October. In 2017, ABC announced that they too would give a stab at the formula with a live version of ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid''[[note]]not to be confused with the non-Disney live action film[[/note]] under the ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents Wonderful World of Disney]]'' banner (to air in October of that year) - in the same month that Fox announced live versions of ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' and ''Film/AChristmasStory'', and NBC announced ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'' for Easter Sunday 2018.* ''Series/TheXFiles'' was one of the shows (along with ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', and [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball NFC football]]) that catapulted the young Creator/{{Fox}} network to the big leagues in TheNineties. Its mix of a sci-fi MythArc inspired by real-life UFO lore and the chemistry between its leads, FBI agents Mulder and Scully, turned it into a pop culture phenomenon that received two {{spinoff}}s (''Series/{{Millennium}}'' and ''Series/TheLoneGunmen'') and [[Film/TheXFilesFightTheFuture a theatrically-released film adaptation]] at the height of its run. However, the SeasonalRot that the show suffered in its last few seasons killed most interest in the MythArc, which by then had turned into a KudzuPlot that made the show and its creator, Creator/ChrisCarter, the TropeNamers for TheChrisCarterEffect. The show went out with a whimper in 2002, and [[Film/TheXFilesIWantToBelieve a second movie]] released in 2008 met a poor reception and seemed to confirm that the show's fandom was pretty much dead. Worse, as Carter himself pointed out, the 9/11 attacks and TheWarOnTerror destroyed the cultural climate that allowed ''The X-Files'' to become such a hit, consigning the conspiracy theories that the show was built around to the political fringes and making the entire concept seem like [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece a relic of a more innocent time]]. Even the show's remaining fans often told new viewers to stick to the MonsterOfTheWeek episodes rather than get caught up in the convoluted MythArc.\\\However, in 2016, Fox aired a new, six-episode MiniSeries event that brought back the original cast and crew and continued plotlines that had been LeftHanging for fourteen years, in the process {{retcon}}ning many of the more unpopular elements of the MythArc that had come in during its SeasonalRot. While "season 10" overall wasn't universally acclaimed, it did reignite interest in the original series, which had become easier than ever to watch in the age of streaming and binge-watching (the show being a prime example of BetterOnDVD). Nowadays, retrospectives on ''The X-Files'' tend to look back on it more favorably, focusing on the GloryDays of the MythArc and the innovations it brought to television (especially sci-fi and fantasy television) now that its DorkAge has fallen into the past.* In TheSixties, the ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV series starring Creator/AdamWest left [[AudienceColoringAdaptation an indelible mark]] on the character and the superhero genre in general, winning audiences over with its sense of humor and its LighterAndSofter tone. During UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks in the '80s and '90s, however, many comic book fans came to regard it as a symbol of everything wrong with UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}, having taken ComicBook/{{Batman}} away from his roots as a hard-bitten VigilanteMan and [[BadassDecay turned him into a cuddly live-action cartoon]]. The fact that, [[ScrewedByTheLawyers for the longest time]], the only media available from the show was [[Film/BatmanTheMovie the incredibly campy movie]] meant that there was little way to challenge that judgment, nor was the fact that the widely-reviled ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' drew heavily from the show for its style. Backlash against the Dark Age, West's own reemergence in pop culture late in his life, and the show finally getting released on home video in 2014 led to a slow but steady reevaluation of the show's merits, with many praising it as a hilarious AffectionateParody of the superhero genre that boasted a great cast.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]* Wrestling/HulkHogan. At the height of his popularity in 1985, he hosted ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' and was on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated''. By the time 1994 rolled around (thanks to a combination of confirmed allegations of steroid use, a worn out gimmick that seemed stuck in the '80s - partially for the previous reason, and a rather disastrous movie career), he was seen as a self-parody whose shelf life was such that he needed to [[FaceHeelTurn ditch the hero routine]] [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder altogether]] just to [[WereStillRelevantDammit remain relevant]]. However, in 2002, his return to [=WrestleMania=] -- still in his villain persona -- resulted in the fans cheering him over the Rock. To this day, he and [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson the Rock]] are among the closest things the Wrestling/{{WWE}} has produced to A-list deities.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]* This happens to pro athletes all the time, even more so today in the age of multi-million dollar contracts, free agency, and intense media scrutiny. You'd never know it today, but Ted Williams was booed everywhere in the American League, including Boston, for at least half of his career -- but time (and military service) has left him in a more favorable light. Alex Rodriguez seems to be on a downturn right now, but was one of the most popular players in the past and probably will be again before it's all said and done. Jennifer Capriati went from "tennis phenom" to "troubled teenager" to "elder stateswoman of tennis". Mike Tyson alone has jumped back and forth at least twice each.* UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} in the US endured three moments when it seemed like it was on the road to oblivion, only to prove itself more resilient than people thought.** The 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which several players on the UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} White Sox were caught having thrown the World Series in order to collect on gambling bets, shattered baseball's public image and almost destroyed the sport. Fortunately, Creator/BabeRuth began his career around the same time, and his prowess made baseball even more popular than before. It was also around this time when the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead-ball_era "dead-ball era"]] of low-scoring, defense-focused, inside-the-park baseball (in 1908, the average number of runs scored in a game, by ''both'' teams, was only 3.4) gave way to the high-hitting, home run-focused game that the sport has been famous for ever since. However, some sports writers point out that the "boring" Baseball of way back when was immensely popular at the ticket office and fascinated the media, and the supposedly exciting focus on offense fails to draw the crowds of the times when baseball truly was America's pastime bar none.** During UsefulNotes/TheFifties, the only place where UsefulNotes/{{baseball}} wasn't in a sorry state was UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity. The minor leagues were collapsing due to the availability of major league games on television, old stadiums were growing increasingly decrepit, the dominance of New York teams (particularly [[InvincibleHero the Yankees]])[[note]]Of the ten World Series held in the '50s, eight were won by teams from New York. The only years when this wasn't the case were 1957, when the UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} Braves pulled it off, and 1959, when the UsefulNotes/LosAngeles Dodgers won -- and just two years earlier, they had been the ''Brooklyn'' Dodgers.[[/note]] was causing fans outside New York to tune out, some teams were still refusing to integrate long after UsefulNotes/JackieRobinson had broken down the color barrier, and the sport had no real presence (other than the aforementioned minor leagues) in the fast-growing "Sun Belt" of the South and the West Coast. All of this gave [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball football]], both professional and [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball college-level]], enough room to build itself up as a serious rival to baseball's status as "America's pastime."\\\\Then in 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants[[note]]The baseball team, not the present-day NFL team. To avoid confusion, the football team is sometimes referred to as the "New York ''Football'' Giants," which is still its legal corporate name.[[/note]] moved to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles and UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, respectively, starting a trend for other teams looking to build new stadiums, which resulted in the sport's expansion beyond the East Coast and the Midwest. This was followed by the collapse of the long-running Yankees dynasty in TheSixties and that team falling into a DorkAge, meaning that fans of other franchises now had a chance to see their teams win the World Series. Suddenly, baseball was relevant again, and in a position to put up a real fight against football for the rest of the century.\\\\Of course, [[CreatorProvincialism New York sportswriters]] are still likely to remember TheFifties as [[NostalgiaFilter baseball's "golden age"]], simply because it was the era in which the Yankees got the World Series rings they were ''entitled'' to, dammit! And if the Yankees didn't win, then the Dodgers or the Giants probably did.** The scarce TV coverage of MLB games in the early '90s triggered a strike that CutShort the 1994 season, and the steroids scandal of the 2000s tarnished the reputation of some of the biggest sluggers of the late '90s and the sport's popularity began to fade quickly. However, it seems that everything has been forgiven and forgotten by the following decade, primarily because of the scandals that have rocked the NFL (which was one of the main beneficiaries of the decline of the MLB).* The NBA experiences this around every two decades. It gained notoriety in TheSeventies with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but in TheEighties, the only place you could see basketball on TV was on scattered late-night broadcasts. UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan took the sport to worldwide popularity as TheNineties unfolded, but his eventual retirement left a huge void in its popularity at the TurnOfTheMillennium. While it is currently nowhere near its '90s peak, [=LeBron=] James has given the league enough buzz to rival football and baseball in national attention. The internet and exemplary talent from abroad like Dirk Nowitzki (who is easily the best known non-soccer team sport athlete in his native Germany) have also helped the NBA garner a significant international fanbase, something which the NFL, despite its dominance of American professional sports in the 2010s, is still struggling to find.* Even the NFL has had some rough patches along the way. A ''Sports Illustrated'' cover in the early 1990s mentioning how to revive "a boring league". An article like this would hardly be associated with pigskin nowadays.* Sports like figure skating, women's gymnastics, and depending on where you live, [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball soccer]]. Every four years, during the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames and UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup, those sports take center stage and grab the headlines, and then afterwards, the athletes largely disappear into obscurity until the next big sporting event rolls around.* George Steinbrenner is generally remembered as controversial but successful as owner of the New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010, but there was a time when he was considered much more controversial than successful. Within a few years of becoming owner, he established a reputation as an often tyrannical and capricious but effective owner, using his vast reserves of money and the newly instituted system of free agency to put together a dysfunctional but winning team, winning the World Series in 1977 and 1978. They continued to be mostly a winning team for the next decade, but repeatedly fell short of playoff success, and then finished with a losing season each year from 1989 to 1992. This, coupled with his being removed permanently from the Yankees' baseball operations in 1990 for hiring a gambler to dig up dirt on star player Dave Winfield, caused him to be seen as a corrupt egomaniac who had ruined a once proud franchise. However, he was reinstated in 1993, and brought the Yankees back to their winning ways, partly because he took a less hands-on approach to the team, including stopping his infamous tendency to constantly replace managers. The Yankees won five more World Series before his death, insuring that his legacy would be overall positive. Keith Olbermann discusses this in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MoJweOFQT0 this video]].* Brett Favre was revered by fans as the guy who saved the Green Bay Packers franchise and brought them their first Super Bowl victory in 30 years when he retired for the first time following the 2007 season. He then [[{{Retirony}} un-retired]] before the 2008 season and was traded to the New York Jets. The move divided the Cheeseheads (Packers fans) to the point that the CBS affiliates in Green Bay and Milwaukee requested as many Jets games as possible to facilitate the large number of fans who still supported Favre. Following the season, Favre retired for a second time, then un-retired again only to sign with the Packers' hated rivals, the Minnesota Vikings, which drew ire even from fans who'd continued to support him as a Jet.\\\\After a relatively successful year with the Vikings, in which they beat the Packers twice, Favre retired again only to once-again come out of retirement. Fortunately for the Packers, it got better this time around. Not only did the Packers, led by former Favre understudy Aaron Rodgers easily avenge both of the previous years' losses to the Vikings en route to victory in Super Bowl XLV, but Favre had the worst season of his career that also saw him miss his first game since becoming the Packers starting QB in 1992 due to a late-season injury. To make matters worse, he was also involved in a scandal when it came to light that he attempted to have [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders an extra-marital affair with a Jets cheerleader]] during his stint in New York.\\\\He retired for good following the 2010 season, and step were taken on both sides to repair Favre's relationship with the Packers organization and fans. By the time the Packers retired his number in 2015, it was clear that he was forgiven by all of the fans and his Hall of Fame induction in 2016 was filled with festivities in both Canton and Green Bay. * American football in Germany has undergone at least one cycle of this, though outside factors played a huge role. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, the World League of American Football and later NFL Europe brought (semi)pro football to Europe and Germans in particular liked what they were getting - big shows, concerts, American talent and the big stadiums where soccer games were normally held. In addition Football was part of the pay TV package you had to buy if you wanted to see soccer on live TV, so many Germans had the NFL on their TV anyway and ratings were solid. Even the domestic German league managed a couple of games with attendance figures like 30.000 for a Braunschweig-Hamburg final.\\\\Then the NFL Europe shut down because Roger Goodell (who had just become commissioner) wanted to save money and instead focus on the NFL International Series. To add insult to injury, Hamburg went bankrupt and Braunschweig entered a serious DorkAge due to money and fan interest running out. The pay TV company dropped the NFL due to its high cost and Football entered a serious slump. Cue back to back European championships for the German national team (2010 and 2014, the 2018 edition will be held in Germany) and promising ratings for the NFL in free TV coverage (Playoffs only). Suddenly one very smart person over at [=Pro7/Sat1=] Media Group decides to carry the regular season (two games every Sunday, plus all London and Thanksgiving games) and ratings suddenly explode, teams don't know where to go with all the young people who suddenly want to try the sport and NFL related hashtags are trending topic on German Twitter. And if you try counting the amount of people running around with NFL basecaps on any given day, you'd soon get tired of all the Raiders and Patriots gear.* [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball Soccer]] [[AmericansHateTingle in the United States]]. In the early part of the 20th century, when most of the major professional sports leagues on both sides of the Atlantic were in their infancy, the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Soccer_League#ASL_I American Soccer League]] was among them. It was, at one point, the second most popular sports league in the country after [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} Major League Baseball]]. However, disputes between the ASL and the rival United States Football Association over a number of factors led to a "[[http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/roger-allaway/2010/10/25/what-was-the-quot-soccer-war-quot/ Soccer War]]", with FIFA butting in and siding with the USFA over controversy that the ASL was signing players who were under contract to European teams. The Soccer War crippled the ASL, with the league folding at the end of the 1933 season. Worse, while the USFA and FIFA ''won'' the war and established their pre-eminence, the spectacle of a US athletic association conspiring with a European organization to undermine its rival alienated many U.S. sports fans by creating an image of soccer as a sport controlled by foreigners, and along with the lack of a professional league that was able to field good players like the ASL did, the events pretty much killed the sportís popularity for decades, so bad to the point that [[SoccerHatingAmericans it has its own trope]]. \\\\Soccer experienced a brief but explosive boom in the United States between the late '70s and the mid '80s with the North American Soccer League, thanks in part to the New York Cosmos, which brought in some of the soccer world's biggest heroes (such as Pele himself and Franz Beckenbauer) to play for them. While financial hardships following Peleís retirement would eventually lead to the NASLís folding in 1984, it reintroduced soccer to the North American sports scene on a large scale, and was a major contributing factor in soccer becoming one of the most popular sports among American youth. Along with FIFA giving the US hosting duties in the 1994 [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup World Cup]], the improving success of the US Men's and Womenís National Teams, and the implementation and growing success of UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer, soccer has been on the way to regaining its long-sought Major League status. However, with the ever crowded American sporting landscape from leagues that thrived in soccer's absence, not to mention the persistent stereotypes of the sport which came about during its "death"[[note]]In the modern era, soccer is seen by many Americans as either a "kiddie" or "girly" sport played by adolescents boys and teenage girls with pushy "soccer mom" parents, or one that is dominated by (chiefly Latin American) immigrants.[[/note]], it will take time before soccer can become a "major league" sport in the same breath as the big 4 leagues.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]* The general subject matter in which comedians are allowed to traffic seems to shift this way and that constantly. Perhaps most notably, ethnic/racial and male-chauvinist humor has [[CrossesTheLineTwice gone back and forth across the line]] on more or less a decade-by-decade basis since TheSixties, with TheEighties probably the low point of acceptability.* Similarly, political humor seems to wax and wane, depending on how high a profile America has on the world stage at a given moment.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]* ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'' was a huge hit when it premiered on Broadway. It was acclaimed and loved by audiences, becoming one of the most popular Broadway musicals of the 1990s. Then, around the mid-2000s, the musical started to get dismissed as narmy and overrated by audiences. HypeBacklash had set in and the show eventually had its final showing in 2008. The failed film adaptation surely didn't help things. Fast-forward to the 2010s and it is again being recognized as a fantastic work of drama with interesting compositions that were unlike anything at the time. ''RENT'' continues to hold a high popularity and seems to be making a comeback with audiences.* Terence Rattigan. Ask any critic or theater buff in the '40s and '50s, and they'd probably list Rattigan - author of '' Film/TheDeepBlueSea'', ''Film/SeparateTables'' and ''Film/TheWinslowBoy'', among others - as one of England's great playwrights, a master of witty dialogue and refined, well-plotted drama. Just a decade later, with the advent of the "Angry Young Men" (John Osborne, Harold Pinter, etc.) and their more emotional, formally fluid and class-driven work, Rattigan became despised for the very qualities that he'd been praised for. After decades of disfavor, critics in the '90s began analyzing Rattigan's plays through the prism of personal identity and sexual repression, viewing thematic content [[ValuesResonance previous generations had ignored or dismissed]]. With frequent revivals and film adaptations of his work, Rattigan has regained his reputation. * Believe it or not, the works of Creator/WilliamShakespeare (who, during his lifetime made enough money off of ''something'' to buy his family a coat of arms[[note]]His plays were successful and he was a very good businessman, who made what we can consider sound investments and he was also a moneylender which allowed him to leverage his capital[[/note]]) did not become the canonical greatest writer ever for some 170 years after his death. ** Some of this has to do with social changes (UsefulNotes/EnglishCivilWar, the Restoration) which led to a period in which TheDiaryOfSamuelPepys wrote about several of them that they are SoBadItsHorrible or merely SoOkayItsAverage. In France, an Anglophile like Creator/{{Voltaire}} loved John Locke, Newton, Swift and Pope, but really thought Shakespeare was bad for [[SingleIssueWonk violating the classical unities]]. Shakespeare-craziness really hit high gear in the late 1700s, first in England (under Creator/SamuelJohnson) and then in Germany (where the Enlightenment and Romantic writers were revolting against the French neoclassicism) started celebrating Shakespeare as an example of "genius" where Shakespeare's "little Latin and lesse Greek" (as his good friend [[VitriolicBestBuds Ben Jonson wrote in a commemorative elegy]] on the First Folio) didn't actually hurt the appreciation for him but made him even more of a "miraculous genius" granted natural talents by divine providence.** Likewise, not all of Shakespeare's plays had the reputation they did today. In Shakespeare's lifetime, ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'' was his biggest popular success which was largely deprecated by later critics (and is today considered a {{Cult}} favorite), while ''Theatre/KingLear'' was seen as so bleak that a {{Bowdlerization}} doctored the ending of the play. The likes of Samuel Johnson liked some plays but disliked others. ''Hamlet'' in particular became ''the'' canonical great Shakespeare play thanks to the Romanticists and it became a favorite in German and Russian romanticist circles. ''Theatre/TheTempest'' is today considered one of Shakespeare's greatest works but it did not always have that reputation. Plays that were considered minor like ''Theatre/AsYouLikeIt'' are today considered among his best comedies. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* The Indie Game scene altogether is the end result of this. Many Indie Developers are themselves gamers who first got introduced into the medium during the 8 and 16-bit era of gaming. As a result, [[SpiritualLicensee they model their own games]] on the ones they grew up with. * ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' has gone through this cycle twice already. It was highly anticipated in the late '90s, became nothing more than a punchline to any joke about vaporware or ScheduleSlip during the 2000s, and then became legitimately anticipated again when it was finally released in 2011. Unfortunately, this, combined with TwoDecadesBehind, is also a major reason why it received such a lukewarm reaction. Critics pointed out that, after 15 years in development, its style of gameplay and presentation didn't hold up well against the landscape of modern shooters.* Sci-Fi shooters like ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'' have experienced this cycle. During the '90s and early 2000s, ''Doom'', ''Halo'' and their clones were insanely popular among action aficionados for their fast-paced, action-packed gameplay and sci-fi aethetics. However, while neither have been forgotten per se, they declined in popularity from 2005 onwards due to competition from modern military shooters. So much so that ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'' dethroned ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' as the most played game on Xbox Live. It didn't help that an increasing ScifiGhetto attitude led to a backlash towards sci-fi shooters. However, military shooters themselves [[DeaderThanDisco became less popular]] starting since 2010 due to a mix of market oversaturation, [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks lack of innovation]], [[UnfortunateImplications questionable depictions of foreigners and military intervention]] and the stereotype that only whiny, racist little kids and dudebros play them. Subsequently, interest in sci-fi shooter was rekindled as they offered diverse array of gameplay styles and weapon diversity in fantastical settings without any real baggage that plagued modern military shooters. Ironically, many new shooters like ''VideoGame/TitanFall'', ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', and even ''Halo'''s rival ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' [[FollowTheLeader have begun copying]] ''Doom'' and ''Halo''. A good example of this can be seen in Yahtzee's review of ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}'' re-release on his show ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation''. Although he considers the game to be tacky and dated, he admits that ''Doom 3'' and other sci-fi shooters are more enjoyable than most "spunkgargleweewees".** Then came 2016 with games like ''VideoGame/Doom2016'', ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'', and ''Videogame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare'' on the spotlight, and practically the only non-Sci-Fi shooter that is an AAA title for the last two years is Battlefield 1, for different reasons.* Creator/{{Nintendo}}:** In the '80s and early '90s, it was the embodiment of modern entertainment. In the late '90s and early 2000s, it became "the kiddy company" due to competition from Sega and Sony and the censorship of certain games like ''Wolfenstein 3D'' and ''Mortal Kombat'' and slipped into last place. So what does Nintendo do? Rather than fight the "kiddy" label, they embraced it (to the aggrieved cries of the hardcore gaming market), marketing the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} to families, senior citizens, and other groups not traditionally viewed as "core" gamers. Thanks to this strategy, it was once again the dominant force in gaming. [[CasualVideoGame Casual gaming]] is largely responsible for Nintendo's resurgence, being followed up by Zynga, Popcap, smartphone apps, and motion controls for the other consoles. These casual-friendly developers eventually left Nintendo crowded out in the eighth generation. ** Nintendo seems to have hit another low with their UsefulNotes/{{Wii U}}, which has fallen to last place behind the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 4}} and UsefulNotes/XboxOne despite a one year head start. This is largely due to their attempt to [[WinBackTheCrowd win back]] core gamers while [[MisaimedMarketing still trying to appeal to casuals simultaneously]], not to mention with the apparent lack of innovation (the primary controller resembles a tablet), and the shift in consumer electronics development (for easy porting) results in the [=PS4=] and Xbox One using standardized PC hardware. Whilst it does have an audience with hardcore gamers and Nintendo fans, the casual fans have moved on to other products like smartphones and casual games in PC or the more mainstream consoles. By the time [[KillerApp successful games]] like ''Videogame/HyruleWarriors'', the fourth game in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, and the SleeperHit ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' came out, it was already too late for the console.** As of May 2017 however Nintendo has been on an upswing with the release of their new console the Nintendo Switch. The Switch launched to a massive Comercial success, selling out across the world within hours of its release, and even outselling Nintendo's previous best launch the Wii. This combined with theit recent success with ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' (which was likely a product of ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' becoming a world wide phenomenon for a short time) has lead many to predict an upcoming reprise of nintendo's past successes%% The Pokémon example has been discussed in the Discussion page and decided that it does count. Do not delete without first consulting the Discussion page. Thank you.* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. Back in the late '90s, it was the king of kid fads. However, it quickly faded among people who only played it to be "cool", and in a few short years, the only people who would still publicly admit to liking it were small children (though the games were still system sellers). After the release of ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', it started making a comeback, and the 2016 launch of the ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' AR game firmly cemented it. Kids can safely admit to liking it in public again, longtime fans are no longer bashed for it, and those kids who were only fans back in the day are now grown-ups old enough to wax nostalgic about it, as seen in the page image. In addition, a Japanese clothing company released a line of Poké-merchandise specifically targeted at adult Poké-fans, with an "artsier" bent to it. However, the above is mostly restricted to the games: while there is not as much hate for the ''Pokémon'' anime as around the Johto arc, it still hasn't recovered quite as much as the games did.%% The Pokémon example has been discussed in the Discussion page and decided that it does count. Do not delete without first consulting the Discussion page. Thank you.* Indie gaming, the Wii, and mobile gaming have brought back quite a few genres that were once assumed to have died:** [=2D=] side-scrollers and platformers, such as ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'', ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', and ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', once made up the bedrock of the industry. After the VideoGame3DLeap, they were viewed as quaint relics of the pre-UsefulNotes/PlayStation era, and were relegated to handhelds and cheap Flash games... until ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' tore up the charts, and indie games like ''VideoGame/{{Braid}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}'' became critical darlings. Now, the side-scroller has once again become a major part of gaming, as seen with the latest outings of VideoGame/{{Mega|Man9}} [[VideoGame/MegaMan10 Man]], VideoGame/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog4}}, VideoGame/{{Donkey Kong|CountryReturns}}, VideoGame/{{Rayman|Origins}}, and VideoGame/{{Kirby|sReturnToDreamLand}}, as well as original games like ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'', ''Super VideoGame/MeatBoy'', ''VideoGame/SplosionMan'', ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', ''Videogame/{{Broforce}}'', and ''Videogame/StarBound''.** The SurvivalHorror genre originated as a nifty response to the technological limitations of fifth-generation consoles, and produced a mountain of {{killer app}}s for the young UsefulNotes/PlayStation console, most notably ''VideoGame/{{Resident Evil|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Silent Hill|1}}'', which were among the premier game franchises in the second half of the '90s. In the TurnOfTheMillennium, however, the genre was squeezed out by rising budgets and the homogenization of the AAA game industry; both ''Resident Evil'' and ''Silent Hill'' went through {{Dork Age}}s brought on by attempts to compete with shooters, and other series likewise withered and died. However, starting in the late '00s, the genre made a comeback in the indie realm, with games like ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'', ''VideoGame/DayZ'', ''VideoGame/{{Slender}}'', and the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' games being well-received and spawning a wave of new horror efforts. With ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' being a smash hit critically and commercially, with many even considering it the best game of the entire [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames Seventh Generation]], the genre is on its way back to being a success with mainstream developers as well. This was further reinforced with the runaway success of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard''. ** After the leap to 3D in late '90s and 2000s, especially with the major spotlight titles for the contemporary consoles being full 3D games, sprite graphics were considered hopelessly outdated for home console and PC gaming, something only seen in portable handheld games, bargain-bin UsefulNotes/{{shovelware}} "retro collections", and certain developers (such as SNK) that only got away with it due to the GrandfatherClause. However, in the seventh and eighth generation of consoles, after the rise of digital distribution (which massively cuts costs such as printing copies and shipping), indie and smaller developers for home consoles looked at sprites and saw a more practical alternative to high-tech 3D graphics engines, especially now that technology allowed for the display of far more detailed sprites and more impressive gameplay features. ''Braid'', for instance, got a ton of mileage out of its artistic sprite characters. Nowadays, 2D games for home consoles and PC continues to be a trend to the point that ''Videogame/ShovelKnight'' got a physical release. ** The AdventureGame, particularly the point-and-click puzzle variety, mostly dried up around the mid '90s around the same time Creator/LucasArts stopped making them in favor of ''Franchise/StarWars'' licensed games, upstaged by new genres such as the FirstPersonShooter. For a long time, they were all but absent except in the indie and hobby scene. Starting around 2008, however, Creator/TelltaleGames started making inroads with rebooting classic franchises such as ''Franchise/SamAndMax'', and the rise of digital distribution meant that companies like [=LucasArts=] and Creator/{{Sierra}} could offer their old games for sale to the public again. Fast forward to 2013, where adventure games feature heavily in the indie renaissance, Telltale's adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' wins multiple Game of the Year awards, and the mere promise of an adventure game by [=LucasArts=] veteran Creator/TimSchafer nets Creator/DoubleFine over $3 million on Website/{{Kickstarter}} and starts the craze of crowdfunding indie games (including other genres that fell victim to market trends and the blockbuster model).* Retro gaming, in particular the 16-bit period. Emulators have led people to discover a lot of old classics that can be played for free, take up hardly any space and do not take any time to install. Companies have followed suit by reissuing older games. In addition, [=PS1=] gaming is also making a comeback via the [=PlayStation=] Network and emulation on PSP. This doesn't apply to Europe, though, due to NoExportForYou issues.* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' in TheNineties: a ridiculously popular 2D fighting game, with blood and gore as a selling point. ''Mortal Kombat'' during the TurnOfTheMillennium: an confusing, ridiculously unbalanced 3D fighting game series that [[JumpingTheShark jumped the shark]] long ago (the LighterAndSofter crossover with DC not helping anything), and suffered heavily from the PolygonCeiling. ''Mortal Kombat'' starting with the [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 2011 reboot]]: a ridiculously popular fighting game that uses 3D graphics but is played on a 2D plane, with blood and gore as a selling point.* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series has gone on a wild roller coaster of this. When it came out, it immediately became one of the definitive games of [[UsefulNotes/The16BitEraOfConsoleVideoGames The 16-bit Era]] and put the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis into a fierce [[UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars competition]] with Nintendo. During the time of the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, his popularity dipped because the series was strangely on main series hiatus, only existing through spinoffs such as ''VideoGame/SonicR'' and an enhanced remake of ''VideoGame/Sonic3DFlickiesIsland''. Come the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast, Sonic regained the spotlight with the leap to 3D, with ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' was wildly popular and highly acclaimed, but subsequent games would take their flaws, such as [[PolygonCeiling dodgy camera and controls]] and GameplayRoulette, and cause the series to slowly slide into a bad reputation for its flawed 3D games and an annoying fanbase. This was exacerbated by the over-the-top DarkerAndEdgier ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'', the infamous ObviousBeta ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' and the shameful PortingDisaster of [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 the original game]], causing the series to fall into SnarkBait.\\\\After ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' introduced a new well-received style of play, with ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' refining it and removing any poorly received alternate gameplay styles, Sonic's popularity increased even more to the point of appearing to market commercials (he hasn't done this since the '90s), and even appearing in ''[[Disney/WreckItRalph a movie]]''. Then after ''that'', the series' popularity dipped once again, with ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' getting a mixed reception for its jarringly different gameplay and collection of other highly experimental play styles after the well-received boost games, and then even more so with the ill-fated ''VideoGame/SonicBoom: Rise of Lyric''. Even though the latter was part of a spin-off [[WesternAnimation/SonicBoom sub-franchise]], the industry as a whole started to trash Sonic as being a relic of the 16-bit era that [[JumpingTheShark jumped the shark]] once again. The duo of ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' and ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' is seen by its fans as a make-or-break point for the franchise, and only time will tell if the series can permanently regain its status as a venerated video game icon or slide into SnarkBait.* The [[EasternRPG JRPG]] genre in the West. During the '90s and early 2000s, it was viewed as the ultimate video game narrative genre, with awesome storylines that many said rivaled some Hollywood blockbusters. However, sometime during the mid 2000s, with the explosion of Western development teams and the decay of the Japanese industry, the tides changed dramatically, not helped by the fact that technological advances eventually allowed other genres to tell equally detailed stories. In addition, the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series suffered a major dip in quality after ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. During the late 2000s and early 2010s, thanks in no small part to the incredibly polarizing critical and commercial reception of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', the once overwhelmingly popular JRPG had become a dreaded video game genre, seen as a poison that had been holding video games back as a narrative medium for too long. The fact that most of these games relied on {{anime}} style art alienated non-anime fans. Fortunately in 2012, thanks to the critical and commercial success of ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'',[[note]]which was released for the Wii, of all consoles[[/note]] the JRPG made a comeback. The genre is now in good critical and commercial standing once again, with games like ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'', ''VideoGame/NiNoKuni'' and the sleeper hit ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' being cited as some of the finest games the genre has ever produced. Also, certain fondly remembered games have enjoyed well received remakes such as ''[[VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar Lunar: Silver Star Story]]'' and the UpdatedRerelease of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''.* The ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games were huge in the mid-'90s, with critics and gamers alike praising them to no end. While ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'' may not have had the impact the first two games had,[[note]]It was, after all, released two months after ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' on what had become Nintendo's DaddySystem, by which time 2D platformers were perceived as a thing of the past.[[/note]] the series remained popular, even if the critical praise tapered a bit drawing closer to the TurnOfTheMillennium, with other, formerly less-hyped games being favored on the whole in retrospect. Opinions really began to shift following the release of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', which many reviewers panned for being a uninspired FetchQuest, and by the mid-2000s a full-fledged HypeBacklash had set in, with it becoming trendy among critics and gamers to badmouth the series. Most retrospectively attribute this to spite over Rare's decision in late 2002 to leave Nintendo for Microsoft, and their subsequent DorkAge, while others point to a well-publicized quote by Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto (one that he later [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/06/17/e3-2010-shigeru-miyamoto-likes-donkey-kong-country-after-all?page=3 backed away from]]) dismissing the series as pure style over substance[[note]]"''Donkey Kong Country'' proves that players will put up with mediocre gameplay as long as the art is good."[[/note]] Regardless, the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series found its way onto many "Most Overrated Games of All Time" lists, and came to be seen as a prime example of [[PolygonCeiling all that was wrong]] with the VideoGame3DLeap in the mid-'90s. Fortunately, the backlash subsided greatly after ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' became a massive critical and commercial success, the series' reputation returning to greatness among critics and gamers.* For years, ''VideoGame/{{Everquest}}'' was ''the'' [=MMORPG=] for many people. Eventually, however, ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' became more popular, and over the years it had difficulty staying mainstream in an increasingly crowded MMO landscape. The upcoming ''Everquest Next'' has renewed interest with many people, especially as it's [[UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 4}} due for consoles]].* On his debut, the ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'' series was hailed as Sony's equivalent to Nintendo's Mario or Sega's Sonic. Crash's [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot1996 first]] [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack three]] [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped games]] were lauded for their tight gameplay and beautiful art design, and even the [[MascotRacer spinoff kart racer]] ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' was seen as one of the better examples of that genre. However, series creator Creator/NaughtyDog eventually moved on to greener pastures. The rights to the property were left with Creator/{{Activision}}, resulting in various installments in the series to varying levels of success, and not to the same level as the original trilogy. This resulted in Crash falling out of the spotlight, reaching a nadir with the poorly-received ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant''. Eventually, even the original games were seen as not all that great, their TwoAndAHalfD platforming gameplay being seen as both [[NintendoHard frustrating]] and technologically backwards in comparison to games like ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. However, the announcement of the ''N. Sane Trilogy'', an {{Updated|Rerelease}} CompilationRerelease of the first three games, was met with much resounding fanfare from old ''Crash'' fans, and it was met with critical and commercial success (despite, or perhaps [[ItsEasySoItSucks because of]], it being [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-07-18-dev-confirms-crash-bandicoot-is-harder-you-arent-imagining-it even harder than the originals]]). While time will tell if this will lead to new games, many will agree that the ''Crash Bandicoot'' series has regained its former spotlight and has won over many new fans.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* WesternAnimation as a whole went through this from the late 1960s to the late 1980s at least in so-called critical circles. While animation was already becoming less and less popular through the 1950s and much of the 1960s, the death of Creator/WaltDisney ushered upon a period of change. With a lot of the former mainstream on individual down turns, most of the success came from LimitedAnimation on tv, which while popular in society, the critical side denounced it as UsefulNotes/{{the dark age|OfAnimation}}. A typical device used in favor of this is that it transformed animation from DoingItForTheArt into [[AnimationAgeGhetto a gimmick used to entertain children]], Critics would later change tune when films such as ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation were released]]. Arguments as to how true this was will often result in one side arguing the other sees things through a NostalgiaFilter, but the other's counter point will be WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This also applies to the TurnOfTheMillennium, where popularity suffered greatly with the likes of ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' plaguing several cartoon channels, resulting in NetworkDecay. Then, ''Phineas and Ferb'' came out, after more than a decade of DevelopmentHell and became a massive hit ratings wise (From 2009 through 2012, often sided with/beat ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob|SquarePants}}'' in the ratings) with children and adults, allowing shows like ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' for a new Renaissance of cartoons in the 2010s. * ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'', after its enormous popularity during the '80s and early '90s, faded into obscurity by the latter half of the '90s. In 2010, along came ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', which not only proved to be popular among viewers of [[PeripheryDemographic an unexpectedly wide age range]] but also [[FountainOfMemes exploded onto the Internet]], collecting more images, comments, and views on Website/KnowYourMeme than anything else.* While ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' thrived in the 1990s, in the 2000s, the franchise had hit a snag. While was still popular to an extent, it had been overstepped by ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' in popularity, and the third installment in the ''Rugrats'' movie franchise flopping. What didn't help was Nickelodeon's dispute with Klasky-Csupo about the expense of the cost of the shows when new management had stepped in and due to ''Rugrats'' not being as big as it was, didn't have that to back itself up and as a result, had ended and faded into obscurity throughout the entire 2000s, and former fans often denied they ever saw the series just to keep a shed of credibility. Fast forward to 2011, where ''Rugrats'', alongside ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'', is having its 20th anniversary. Nickelodeon had begun showing reruns of the show early in the morning and the creation of The 90s Are All That block, had lead way to reviving the popularity of the show. Due to this, the show has been fondly remembered, even included in several different parodies (''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' did a sketch spoofing how neglectful the parents are) and songs (Childish Gambino's "L.E.S"), as well as airing the show on several different Viacom related networks and blocks.[[note]]It even aired on the dying [=NickMom=] block on Nick Jr. for a little while.[[/note]] As a result, the show is now remembered fondly and is even being considered for a second uncancellation by Nickelodeon.* A similar case occurred with ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': One of the most popular cartoons of the late 1990s-early 2000s until its reputation tanked hard after the movie was released when Creator/CraigMcCracken left the show to make ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends''. However, the show suddenly regained its popularity in later years, and various adaptations in the form of one-off specials, a couple of new comic book series and [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 a reboot]] for 2016.* SliceOfLife kids' cartoons such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', and the Creator/KlaskyCsupo shows, featuring plots that could conceivably happen in real life, have gone through this somewhat. They enjoyed a heyday in the '90s only to fade away after both the industry and kid viewers proved to be more influenced by ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' and its imitators, with cartoons aimed solely at children becoming mostly centered on the slapstick and the surreal. But the genre eventually started getting a small revival. ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', behind its fantasy veneer (and occasional adventure episode), is pure slice-of-life; its success proved that there was still an audience for non-zany animation. By 2016, the main children's networks returned to do cartoons in this style, with shows such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'', ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'', ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBeaks'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', all of which have been well-received by both kids and adults who grew up on the genre's heyday. ''Hey Arnold!'' and ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' even probed popular enough to get films made out of them in 2017, with ''Arnold'' finally seeing release of the fabled Jungle Movie, and the crew of ''Rocko'' getting a look into the 2010's after their last episode.* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''. The characters became popular during the war years, but fizzled out by TheSixties due to the departures of most of its creative team.[[note]]The studio closed between 1964 and 1967 (the void filled by [=DePatie=]-Freleng), before closing for good in 1969. The final cartoon of the original series was a rare Cool Cat (no, not [[Film/CoolCatSavesTheKids that one]]) cartoon called ''Injun Trouble''.[[/note]] By then however, the original ''Looney Tunes'' shorts had ben repackaged for FirstRunSyndication (cartoons made before 1948) as well as (in the case of the post-1948 material) Saturday morning cartoons (and later prime-time specials), renewing their popularity among young people. But this too died out with the "toy shows" of the 1980s. Along came ''Film/SpaceJam'', which combined classic ''Looney Tunes'' humor with a story accessible to 1990s youth thanks to the involvement of Michael Jordan. The buzz was so large that WB[[note]]Which by then regained the pre-1948 shorts[[/note]] released some of the original shorts in [[http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/DVDvideo/VHS/videostarsofsj.html VHS compilations]] to get kids to better familiarize with the classic characters, and today the film is remembered on the Internet as a FountainOfMemes. Between the Creator/CartoonNetwork's "June Bugs" marathons, ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'' and multiple original TV shows, the ''Looney Tunes''[='=] popularity has been on-off since then.* Movies based on animated television shows used to come out on a fairly consistent basis. The ''Franchise/CareBears'' movies were fairly successful but other '80s TV adaptations didn't do very well (ex:''Transformers: The Movie''). The underperformances of ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|TheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp}}'' movies in the summer of 1990 likely prevented studios from greenlighting other movies based on then-popular TV cartoons.\\\\Several years later, Paramount had success with ''[[WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica Beavis and Butt-Head]]'', ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie Rugrats]]'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{South Park|BiggerLongerAndUncut}}'' movies that all came out in a three-year period. Suddenly, it seemed every somewhat popular TV cartoon was getting a theatrical movie, some studios going so far to reformat movies originally meant to be direct-to-video to theatrical release. The only two that did very good business during this era were ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' and ''Disney/TheTiggerMovie'' [[note]]arguably based more on ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' than any other Disney incarnation of the property[[/note]], while movies based on ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', the Oscar-nominated ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'', ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' and critically acclaimed ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet'', as well as subsequent ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' and ''Disney/WinnieThePooh'' films, among others, did more middling business or outright bombed. While the two ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie SpongeBob]] [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobMovieSpongeOutOfWater SquarePants]]'' movies (the first of which was greenlit at the height of this craze but not released until it had died down quite a bit, and the sequel was greenlit more to give Paramount's feature animation division an accessible and commercial first film than anything else) and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' were both more successful, it doesn't seem to be enough to turn a trend just yet.[[/folder]]----